TMNT Love Story Chapter 1
by horriblepastbeautifulsoul
Summary: She was always on her own, always watching them. Until one day, a mistake was made.
1. Chapter 1

**TMNT Love Story**

* I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at all.*

**Ch.1- First encounters and meetings **

There. I spotted them. Green flashes up and across the rooftops of the New York buildings, looking for some action to practise their many years of Ninjitsu. Fighting the crime caused by the Purple Dragons and their high and mighty boss, Shredder. They are named after four world famous artists and each wears a different coloured headband that symbolizes who they are. The oldest and leader of the group goes by the name of Leonardo or Leo for short. He is a stronger fighter and is almost always one step ahead of the enemy. He is very loyal and caring, which is why blue represents him so well. It also brings out his blue and green eyes. He doesn't rush into things like the second oldest turtle.

The second and very hot-tempered turtle goes by the name by Raphael or Ralph. Ralph hides his dark brown eyes with a red headband, which seems to represent his strong will to fight and his easy temper. Next is the brain of the bunch. Donatello or Don. Don is very caring towards his brothers and their master, Splinter. Don is always coming up with new ways to keep everybody safe and uninjured. Don wears a purple headband and although purple isn't a guys' colour, it does suite his green eyes.

Last and finally, the youngest, Michelangelo or Mikey for short. Mikey is very funny and fun loving. He is always distracting his opponents by easily angering them with his comments. Mikey wears an orange headband, which brings out both his golden eyes and his happy personality.

All these brothers always carry around their favourite and most used weapons. Leo uses two blue katana blades, which he uses to fight and defend his opponents with. Ralph uses his two sias, which he battles very well with. Donnie uses a large Bo staff, and although it doesn't have blades, he seems to use it just as easily as his brothers when they use their weapons. Now, Mikey on the other hand, uses nun chucks to fight his opponents and just like Don, his weapon works wonders when it comes to knocking people out.

Do these crime-fighting heroes know I watch them? No, because like them, I keep myself hidden in the shadows from people. I've been trained in Ninjitsu so I know how to defend myself from predators. Shredder killed my family and since then I've been on the run and have been keeping myself hidden, for the most part. There have been the odd times where I've been seen and fought alongside the turtles to aid them but as soon as the fighting is over, I'm gone from their eyes. I always dress in black at night to keep myself hidden from view. After my parents' death, I haven't been too trusting towards others.

CRASH!

My eyes dart everywhere, looking for where the sound came from and then I mentally groan as I notice that I made the sound. The turtles stop their jumping and look behind them, searching for me. I quickly hide behind an air vent, darting away from their eyesight, hoping and praying that they didn't catch a glimpse of me.

"What in the shell was that?" Mikey asks his older brothers, slightly afraid and curious at the same time. I hear their feet lift off the ground and onto my building. Crap! Shit!

"You don't think someone or thing is following us, do you?" Ralph asks as I hear their feet slowly starting to approach me. My eyes widen in fear of getting caught.

"Could be, I mean is it just me or do you guys always feel like someone is watching us?" Donnie says and my heart leaps up to my throat.

My legs and hands itching to run but I know if I move now, I'll get grabbed. Should I risk it? I look quickly to the sides and spot six toes on either side of where I'm hiding. Shit, might as well. I quickly stand up and go to leap off the building but an arm quickly snakes around my waist and traps me, pulling me towards their chest and back onto the building. Fuck! I struggle and thrash around hard, as my heart keeps racing.

"Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!" I yell out, slightly panicked and pissed off.

"Who the shell are you?" Leo demands out of me and I slowly stop thrashing around, already finding a way to escape as I notice where Ralph has his arm wrapped around.

"I'm not telling you anything, Leonardo." I say with a smirk playing on my lips as I see their eyes widen in surprise, wondering how I know Leo's name.

"How do you know my name?" Leo growls out but I just smirk more as I slowly place a hand on top of Ralph's.

"I know all of your names but you'll never know mine." I say and just after I say that, I use my arm and body to send Ralph flying into his brothers.

They all tumble like blocks on top of each other, groaning in pain and my smirk widens more.

"Catch ya later boys." I call with a smirk as I race off the building and leap off the building onto the next building. I hear them leaping to their feet and trying to keep up with me as I leap from building to building but they are failing.

"See, look at what you did, fearless leader!" Ralph growls to his brother and I bark out a laugh as I jump.

"Yeah, you made the pretty girl run away from us." Mikey remarks and Leo groans loudly. I on the other hand have to hold back a growl at Mikey, at being called a pretty girl.

"I didn't mean to." Leo says, slightly whining and I laugh.

"Magic disappearing act." I say as I land on my target place and use a powerful smoke bomb to make myself disappear. I hide on a fire escape behind where the guys are, who are coughing from all the smoke.

"Man, that was strong." Mikey comments, wheezing.

"I'll say. I wonder how she made it so strong." Donnie comments, breathing calmly and helping Mikey with his breathing. "Come on Don, enough with the science stuff. I believe our patrol for tonight is done." Leo says and the guys nod their heads.

"Yeah, we better tell Splinter about that girl." Ralph comments and they race off to their sewer home with me following close behind, hidden of course.

"Why does she look familiar?" Mikey asks them as Don presses in the security code for going into their home. The doors open and they walk through. I smirk and camouflage myself as I sneak in.

"She's been helping us when we look like we are losing our battles against Shredder and his goons." Don replies and Mikey's eyes spark with recognition.

"Oh shell, I forgot." Mikey says, laughing. Ralph rolls his eyes. Master Splinter, April and Casey all walk into the living room, where the boys are. Master Splinter's eyes scan his surroundings and I hold my breath, hoping he doesn't hear my speeding heart beat.

"My sons welcome back. Was there any troubles on your patrol?" Splinter asks his students as they bow with respect as he looks at them.

"No, Sensei but we almost caught the girl who has helped us so much." Leo says, slightly ashamed at not being able to catch me.

"Why is she not with us?" Splinter asks.

"She got upset and flipped Ralph onto us." Mikey says with a laugh and Ralph growls.

"Awe, Ralph got beaten by a girl." Casey teases and just when Ralph is about to attack him, Master Splinter stops him, frowning.

"What's wrong Master Splinter?" Donnie asks, concern dripping in his voice. Splinter closes his eyes slowly and then opens them again.

"We appear to have a guest listening in on us." Splinter says and his beady rat eyes stare directly at mine and I gulp, afraid.

"Come on out and show yourself." Casey growls out demanding and I slightly shake my head.

They all look towards where Master Splinter is looking but they can't see me due to me being hidden so well. Only a very well trained ninja can see me and it seems only Splinter is trained enough. I slowly walk out of my hiding spot and uncamoflague myself so that they can see me. I immediately regret it as soon as I do because the turtles attack me, almost making me lose my balance but I manage to keep steady. Although, I don't use my weapons, I'm still very skilled in grabbing the blades of all weapons without getting hurt, along with weapons without blades too.

I glare at the turtle brothers as they each take time attacking me with their weapons and when they can't land any blows that way, they use their hands and feet. Don goes to jump kick me but I see his move and duck, rolling out of the way. Donnie ends up kicking Mikey and they both fall to the floor, groaning. Two down, two to go. Ralph goes to punch me but I grab his wrist and fling him towards Leo but Leo dodges and Ralph hits the wall. I instinctively feel guilty for hurting the turtles but they brought this upon themselves. Leo glares at me as we circle each other. His blue and green eyes staring hard and deep into my dark blue ones. Our hands itching to attack but waiting for the other one to strike first.

Leo runs at me and I jump straight up, making him fall on the floor, where I drop onto his shell and put a foot to the back of his neck.

"I mean you no harm." I say, pleading with all their eyes as I get off of Leo's shell and step away from him.

"Then why attack us?" Ralph demands as he tries to stand up but miserably fails. I rush towards him but Don and Mikey guard him, protectively.

"Excuse me but you all attacked me. I was only defending myself." I say and easily push past Don and Mikey, placing a hand on where Ralph is hurt.

"Sure, wait. What are you doing?" Ralph demands slightly scared and I roll my eyes.

I close my eyes and concentrate on using my healing powers on Ralph's side. I hear gasps around the room and I know that it's working. I open my eyes and see the bruise on his side has disappeared. I take my hand off and move far away from the group, panting slightly. The group all look at me with astonishment and I smile sadly at them, trying not to faint. The cons to having a healing power like mine is you always feel so exhausted when you heal others and also you can't heal yourself at all. Ugh, I feel so faint. I can feel myself paling in colour. The guys slowly come closer and I try to growl at them but it turns into a whimper instead. I can see concern in their eyes and my eyes soften.

"Child, are you alright?" Splinter asks me, taking a step towards me as I try to calm my heart and breathing so that I don't faint.

"I-I-I'm fine." I stutter out, my voice shaking, as I feel a little bit dizzy and even more on the verge of fainting.

"What's your name?" April questions me nicely, smiling at me. I look at her, smiling sadly at her.

"Around the city, I'm known as the black flower but my real name is…is…" I say and as I try to say my real name, I feel myself slowly starting to faint. My body wobbles a little bit and I see Donatello notice me starting to faint. He races forwards as my body slowly starts to fall to the ground and he grabs me before I can fall and hurt myself.

"Is what?" Ralph asks, trying not to growl at me. I stare at the cement wall, slightly dazed. Don holds me and tries to keep me steady.

"Donatello, move her to the couch." Splinter says and I feel Don lift me and carry me bride style to the couch. He sets me down carefully on the couch. I slowly start to shut my eyes.

"Hey, keep those blue eyes open." Mikey exclaims, panicked a bit. I turn my head and smile at him.

"Come on, what's your name?" Ralph asks me, his eyes holding anger and concern.

"My name is Angel." I say before I shut my eyes completely and fall into the darkness. "Angel?!" is the last I hear before falling into the dreamland world.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2- A glimpse of the past **

"Is she going to be alright, Donnie?" A voice asks, sincerely and curiously, from close by to me. I keep my eyes close, trying to recall why I had fainted in the first damn place. "I believe so." Another voice replies and I recognize Donnie's and Leo's voices talking. "What do you mean that you only believe so? Is she okay or not?" A feminine voice demands and I recognize it as April Jones' voice. "I mean that I only believe so because I don't know why exactly she fainted. There isn't anything physically wrong that I can see and I'm sure everything is fine internally." Donnie explains, frustrated.

"Any theories on why?" April asks, concerned. Then the events from before flash across my eyelids as I remember why I fainted. Damn, I really have got to remember to rest a bit before healing someone. I do hope Ralph and the others are okay. "Maybe a medical condition of some sort but I'm not sure. Plus it's odd that she is able to use non-human abilities, such as the healing ability that she used on Ralph." Donnie says. "I wonder why she helps us against the Shredder." Leo says, slightly curious. My hands instinctively clench at the very mention of the Shredder, as dark memories threaten to reappear and make me relive through those times but I block that from happening. "Hey guys, look at her hands. They are clenched, seems like someone is starting to wake up." Mikey comments and as soon as he says that, I open my dark blue eyes, giving him a glare. I then scan the room and notice just how close they are to me. I instinctively get up quickly and jump away from them. I back away from them. "Easy, we aren't going to hurt you." Leo calmly says to me and I glare at him. "Like I'll believe that." I scoff at him. Leo takes a step forward and I take one back, my eyes slightly growing wide. "Where are your parents, young one?" Splinter asks. I briefly give him a grief-stricken look for a few seconds before I go back to glaring at Leo. "None of your damn business, Splinter." I growl out at him, slightly feeling guilty for being disrespectful towards him. I see him give me a disapproving look. "Why are you on your own?" Mikey asks and I glare at him. I spot an exit and start backing towards it. "Why should I trust you with my story?" I demand. "You already seem to know ours, so it's only fair." April says, eyeing my movements as Leo takes a step forward. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that life isn't always fair?" I nearly yell out and turn, starting to splint fast down a sewer tunnel; away from the turtles, Casey, April and Splinter. I just keep running fast as I hear feet coming after me but I don't look back. I can't trust people anymore! I'm alone and if I'm around people, someone will get hurt! I turn quickly at a dark tunnel and hide myself among the shadows, calming my panting breath, as the feet get closer to my hiding spot. "Are you sure she's this way, Master?" I hear Leonardo ask Splinter as they approach close to where I am. "Yes, my son." Splinter says and I scold myself for forgetting that he is more skilled then his sons. I see him stop and point to where I am hiding, and for some reason, I freeze just a little. "Come on out, we know you are there." Leo says and I glare but don't come out. I see Leo nod to his brothers and suddenly they rush forwards towards me. I become visible and get into a fighting stance. "Please, just leave me alone." I say but they ignore me. Ralph reaches me first and goes to grab me but I flip over him, not wanting to hurt him again. Don tries to hit me with his Bo staff but I grab his staff, which shocked him enough for me to fling him into Ralph and Mikey, who were both trying to grab me. All three of them tumble like bricks, falling down. They groan in slight pain at hitting each other and I smirk. I frown when I notice that both Master Splinter and Leo weren't coming to attack me like the others. I get back into my fighting stance again as Leo slowly makes his way over to me. I hear the others getting back up and I panic slightly, noticing that unless I try to escape now then I'll be forced to talk more. I glance around the area around me, trying to find a way out. The others get up but don't attack; instead they move to be beside their leader, Leo. "You do realize that four against one isn't really fair, right?" I question them and they smile. "We know but if you weren't being difficult, we wouldn't have to be doing this the hard way." Leo comments to me. "I'm being difficult to protect everyone. You can't be involved with me." I growl back at him, glaring at him. "Why can't we be involved with you, child?" Splinter asks me and I just shake my head, not answering him. I noticed an exit close by but the turtles and Splinter are blocking it. I attempt to keep my breathing nice and calm, before I make a mad dash in between where the turtles are lined up and where Splinter is. I sprint as fast as I can into the gap that is between both of them but as I reach close to the exit, a sudden force hits me from my left side. The force wrap their arms tightly around me, making sure that my arms are close to my side so that I can't escape or move. I look up and see that none other then Casey Jones. I should have known that they would have the Jones' as reinforcements. "Please just let me go. That's all that I want." I plead with them as they force me back to their home. Casey lets go of me but as I try to come up with a plan to make another desperate escape, Mikey decides to grab me and force me onto his lap on the living room couch. The rest of the turtles sit down on the couch seats or on the arm of the couch while Splinter and the Jones sit on neighbouring chairs. "Why should we let you go? Why do you want us to leave you alone? Don't you need our help this time around?" Leo questions me and I hang my head lowly, not wanting to answer him at all. "Shredder is going to be after me and if he comes after me and you guys are around me, he will kill you." I mumble under my breath, hoping and praying to whatever God that is giving such rotten luck, that they wouldn't hear it. Luck was definitely not on my side at all. "Why is he after you, Child?" Splinter asks me gently. "Shredder murdered my family when I was ten years old and since then has always managed to find me and torture me. I knew about your story and who you guys were because he was always mentioning you guys. I decided to be on your side and to help you but every time that I fought with you guys, one of his goons caught me on my way home and dragged me back to his lair. He held me prisoner over and over again. I can't have him find me only to have you guys get killed in the process…. That's not how I roll." I explain to the turtles, Splinter and the Jones, tears streaming down my face. I can't have them end up just like my family. I won't allow that to happen again. "But we can protect you." Leo says, giving me a small smile. I smile a little back and pull the long sleeve of my black sweater over my hand, playing with the hem of it, nervously. "Yeah, you can stay with us. Right Master Splinter?" Mikey asks, smiling and giving a cute and pleading look at Splinter, who also smiles and gives a nod. "Yes, my children. She can stay with us." Splinter says. "B-B-But where will I sleep and such?" I ask them, nervously and not exactly all the way thrilled at the idea of staying with the turtles. I know I don't have a safe place but the turtles could end up being Shredder's next lunch if I keep staying with them. "You can sleep here on the couch or with one of us." Don comments, smiling as well. Ralph rolls his eyes a little at the suggestion. "I guess that could work." I comment back. "So it's settled. Angel can stay with us here." Mikey says and I nod my head. "Alright, let us go to bed. Angel, you won't leave right?" Splinter says to me and I shake my head to say that I won't leave. Casey and April say good-bye and leave. All the turtles except Donnie, head to their bedrooms. Donnie goes and grabs me a pillow and blanket. Splinter slowly heads to his bedroom. "Here, just in case you find our place too chilly. Also our bedrooms aren't too far away so if you need anything just yell." Donnie says and I smile at him, grabbing the pillow and blanket and setting them on the couch. "Thanks Don. I'll make sure to give you guys a yell if I need anything else." I say to him and he smiles. He takes a running leap and jumps up to his room. I go over to the couch and lay down on it. "Good night, my children." Splinter says to his sons. "Good night, Master Splinter." They all yell in sync with each other and I smile as I curl up more on the couch, pulling my knees to my stomach. "Night, Angel." Splinter says to me and he shuts his sliding bedroom door. "Night Splinter." I say back to him, smiling to myself a little bit.

I slowly close my eyes as the room has grown pitch black. "I won't leave them quite yet." I think to myself as sleep over takes me once again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ch.3- Nightmare and Homemade Pizza**

**Nightmare:**

The house was eerie quiet that night. The wind was howling outside my bedroom window like a wolf howling to it's pack mates while out on the hunt. A loud crash that sounded from the front door violently jerks me awake from my peace-filled dream. I hear the thudding of my father's footsteps going down the stairs to the landing by the front door and not a second later my mother comes into my bedroom. Loud voices sound from downstairs, including my father's voice but I can't decode the conversation very well.

"Angel, baby. I need you to go hide in your closet and not make a sound until I come to get you. Alright?" My mother instructs and I nod my head in understanding, getting up from my bed, wearing my blue flannel pajamas, heading straight for my closet.

My mother opens the closet doors and I slide myself in, crouching under and behind my clothes, that are hanging up. She closes the closet doors and steps towards my bed, just as the door slams open. From my position behind my clothes, I can see that the closet door is open a crack, just barely enough for me to see what is going on. I see a rather large man standing in front of my mother and I want to rush in front of her and protect her from the hideous man but my mother told me to hide and not make a sound. My mother stares horrified at the powerful male standing before her, knowing that her end is finally going to be met.

The man grins evilly at her and that's when I see it. From behind the man's back, in the pale moonlight, I can see the blade glint.

"Where is the child?" The male angrily demands, stepping towards my mother. My mom takes a shaky step backwards, trapped like a mouse between the man and my bed.

"I-I don't know." My mother lies, her voice shaking and I can see her hands are shaking as well. My eyes widen when I see the man wrap one of his hands around the handle of the knife, gripping the handle tightly.

"Fine. If I can't go after her, I'll kill you first." The man says, glaring at her. I cover my mouth to stop myself from letting out a gasp.

Before my mother has time to react, the man pulls the knife out, from behind his back, quickly and in a sweeping motion, at a 90 degree angle, slices the blade of the knife across her throat, killing her. My mother drops to her knees, crimson blood gushing out of her neck. If that wasn't enough, the man then stabs her in the chest, making my mother fall forward onto the floor, her emotionless eyes engraved with an endless pain, staring back at me into my very soul. The man laughs darkly as he takes his knife out of my mother before she falls onto the floor. He then searches around the room, looking for me and I make sure to keep quiet.

A yell is heard from downstairs, forcing the man to head out of my bedroom and down the stairs. I quietly sneak out of my closet and crawl towards my mother's body. I feel salt water teas cascade down my pale cheeks, like a river. I turn my mother over onto her back. My mother's empty, soulless blue eyes staring back at me.

I move my hand over her eyes and close them, not being able to bare the thought of her really being dead and gone from this world. I move towards my bedroom door and listen quietly. I hear a yelp of pain and recognize it as my father's. I hurriedly sneak to the top of the stairs and listen to the conversation downstairs, hiding in the shadows.

"Did you find the girl?" A dark voice asks the man who murdered my mother.

"Unfortunately no. The daughter must be hiding and I can't find her."The male says, hesitantly. Why do they want me?

"Hun! I asked you to do one job; must I do everything myself."The dark voice growls out. From how dark and deep the voice is, I know that it belongs to a male.

"I'm sorry, Master Shredder." Hun says and remains the silent.

"Now a good way to kill you and save me some time to look for your daughter would be to shoot you." Shredder says towards my father and I hear the click of a gun. My eyes widening. I go to run down the stairs but I stop myself.

"Good-bye my sweet angel." I hear my father say just as the gun fires.

**Nightmare ends**

My body jerks forwards from my laying position on the couch. I can feel myself panting, out of breath, the nightmare still fresh in my mind. That nightmare has always come to me every night and it has been stuck on repeat. The closer the date of my parents' murder nears, the worse the nightmare gets. This dreadful memory and cycle has been going on for years and I don't believe that it will ever disappear completely.

My eyes are watery and I can still feel the tears leaking from my eyes like a faucet, dripping down my face. My vision is hazy from my eyes being filled with tears. I can vaguely make out shades of green and grey. I go to wipe away the tears to clear my vision with the back of my midnight sweater sleeve, when I feel velvet fingers upon my skin wiping away my tears for me. I jump in surprise, whimpering like a dog slightly.

"Shh. We aren't trying or going to hurt you. Everything is okay, young one." I hear Master Splinter say to me and minutes later, I feel him wrap his tiny arms around me in an embrace. I continue to cry into his soft fur and hug him tightly back, welcoming the father like hug. After what feels like hours but has only been minutes, my sobbing comes to a stop and I pull away from Splinter. I wipe away the remaining teardrops from my face and clear my vision. I see Master Splinter on the couch seat in front of me and his sons wide awake, hovering close by to me.

"I'm sorry guys and Master Splinter."I say, sniffling a little bit.

"It's alright, child. Now, what was your nightmare about?"Master Splinter questions me and I bow my head in slight shame and embarrassment. I take a deep breath to calm my racing heart before I speak.

"I had a nightmare about the murder of my parents and I would like to not talk about the details." I explain to them, flinching slightly at the memories that have always haunted me and have become the demons and monsters of my mind.

"Alright. We won't push you into anything."Master Splinter says, getting off the couch and walking towards his bedroom.

"My sons let us go back to bed."He continues saying and then enters his bedroom, closing the sliding doors. The brothers head to their own bedrooms, leaping up to the landing above where Master Splinter's room is and off to the side of the living room, where I currently am going to be sleeping.

"Wait... Could I... sleep next to one of you guys? Just for tonight."I ask them, my face heating up and going red slightly as I ball my hands into fists, terrified out of my mind about having another nightmare that will be worse then the last one. The turtles look at each other, secretly questioning each other on who I should sleep next to.

"You can sleep next to me if you would like to." Leo comments and I can almost see a shade of red cross his face for a few seconds before it disappears. A small smile creeps along my face, as I get up off the couch.

"Thanks Leo." I say to him, as I take a running start and leap onto the wall, grabbing the edge of the landing with my fingers.

Smirking slightly, I swing myself up onto the landing. I land on my feet in a perfect standing position. I walk over to Leo and giggle a little at the guys' dumbfounded looks. Leo, Donatello, Mikey, and Ralph all head into their bedrooms. I follow Leo into his, watching as he lays down under the blue fuzzy blanket. I stride over to Leo's bed and crawl in with him, surprised at how warm it is under the blanket.

"Thanks again, Leo." I whisper to him and he gives me a smile from over his shoulder, as his back is towards me.

"Welcome. Now, get some sleep." Leo says, turning his head to the brown brick wall.

I smile and move closer to Leo's back, out of instincts, cuddling into it. I feel Leo freeze slightly and then relax as I close my eyes. I feel Leo turn around towards me, wrapping his reptilian arms around me and holding me close, just as I fall asleep completely into a peaceful dream.

**The next morning**

The next morning, I wake up early, but to my surprise, Leo wasn't in the bed at all. I get off the bed and head out of his room. Upon arriving outside of his room and looking over the landing, I spot the guys and Master Splinter practising their training. I leap down off the landing, appearing in a perfect crouching position on the ground, my legs bent to break my fall. I straighten myself up and walk over to the guys, standing right next to Ralph, joining near the end of their training.

"Good. Now, Shodo." Master Splinter commands and the guys do the Ninjitsu move and I follow along with the rest of commands.

* Skip to after Training. (If you want to look up or know what scene this is, it is from Season 3, episode 10 – Nobody's fool) *

"And finish." Master Splinter says, and as soon as he does, the guys all collapse from exhaustion, groaning.

"Ok. I can't move." Donatello whines and I laugh a little, still standing and only just panting.

"Who wants to move." Ralph groans out, barely standing on his knees.

"Wake me for breakfast."Mikey comments, only thinking about the food that his stomach wants. Hmm, maybe I should make the guys' my homemade pizza some time.

"Note to self: buy Mikey some new deodorant." Leo comments and I laugh a bit more.

"Come on guys. It wasn't that bad, after all I'm still standing." I gloat, smirking at the guys; who all turn to glare at me.

"Training has concluded for today. I'll be meditating in my room." Master Splinter says and then proceeds to his bedroom. After he leaves, Ralph and Donatello grab the video game controllers before Mikey can and start playing a video game. I roll my eyes at them.

"Hey! Come on." Mikey whines, pouting at them. I head towards what looks like a kitchen of some sort.

"Well, it's our turn now."Ralph says as he and Donnie sit on the couch, Mikey still blocking the view of the TV screen from them.

"We will call you when there is an opening."Donnie comments, laughing, just as Leo starts moving his little brother out of the way of the TV.

"But..."Mikey begins to say before Leo interrupts him.

"Relax Mikey. Come on, we can do something else."Leo says as Mikey begins to follow him, unblocking Ralph's and Donnie's view of the TV.

"Yeah, relax Mikey." I comment and see Mikey stare between Leo and I.

"But how's a turtle supposed to rest and relax when there's nothing to do?" Mikey says, clearly upset.

"Let Ralph and Don have their game. You and I can go hang out with Angel. We can see what she is doing in our kitchen." Leo suggests to him, heading towards where I am. Mikey's eyes widen in excitement as he races over to where I am.

"Ah. So this is the kitchen then." I comment, a little surprised that I found the kitchen.

"Yup. So... can you make pizza?" Mikey questions, demandingly but at the same time giving me a very hopeful look. He clearly hopes that I can make him pizza.

"Mikey..." Leo scolds, sending the orange-bandana wearing turtle a glare. I giggle, smirking at the boys.

"What? I'm only curious to know if she does or not. I mean if she is able to make pizza then April and us don't have to use a lot of money to order pizza." Mikey happily says.

"And what if she doesn't know how? Did you ever consider that?" Leo lectures him and I see Mikey look down, shamefully.

"Ohh..." Mikey says, giggling nervously.

"Actually Leo and Mikey, I just so happen to be very skilled in making homemade pizza." I explain to them and Mikey grins excitedly.

"Awesome! Can you make us some pizza, please?" Mikey yells out excised; making Donatello and Ralph pause their game long enough to look over at us questioningly. I shoo them back to their video game and they continue to play the game.

"I could but you have to get me the ingredients and tools to make it." I instruct him, and he grin grows bigger. He rushes into the kitchen and hurriedly rushes around the kitchen, grabbing the ingredients and utensils for making the homemade pizza. He places the tools and ingredients for making pizza on the counter in front of me. I see Leo watching us, leaning against the wall to the kitchen.

"So can I help make the pizza?" Mikey asks me, politely and I see Leo's eyes widen. Leo starts to walk towards us.

"Yes, you can help me but Leo has to help you and make sure that you are following my instructions precisely as I want everything. Do you understand?" I say to Mikey, giving him a stern look and he nods his head.

"I understand completely. Can we get started now?" Mikey asks, smirking at me.

"Alright." I say to him, then proceed to give him instructions on how to make the pizza dough. Leo keeps a close eye on his brother, helping him out every so often when Mikey starts to mess things up. I smile as they work together as one and it reminds me of how close my mother, father and I used to be.

At the counter, from the edge of the counter to the stove, it goes Mikey, then Leo and lastly me. I'm close to the stove so that I can place the pizzas into the oven to cook. Mikey is making the pizza dough and putting the pizza sauce on the pizza. Leo is putting on the meat and vegetables on the pizza. When the pizza gets handed to me, I put the cheese on it and put it in the oven.

"So how did you learn to make pizza?"Leo asks me, curiosity getting to him. I freeze for a few seconds as I am sprinkling cheese on the pepperoni pizza before putting it into the oven. Leo gives me a side glance as he continues to put pepperoni on the next pizza.

"My mother, father and I used to make pizza as a family meal almost all the time." I say, smiling softly at the memory.

"Oh. I see." Leo says, looking a little awkward about bringing the subject up.

"It's alright. You don't have to walk on eggshells around me. I'm not going to snap at you." I explain to Leo. I see him let out a breath of relief.

"Okay. So why do you wear long sleeved clothes?" Leo asks me as I place the second pizza into the oven, under the first pizza. I slightly begin to panic on the inside. No one has dared to ask me that question and I usually don't give answers to those questions. Just as I'm about to reply to him, Master Splinter along with Casey, April, Donnie and Ralph all walk up and over to the kitchen.

"Mmm. Something smells delicious."April compliments and I smile.

"What are you cooking, Angel?"Ralph asks, curious. I walk over to the stove and pull out the pizza out of the oven, placing it on a table within reaching distance for April and the others to have a slice. I place the pizza cutter down next to the cooked pizza.

"Your brothers and I are making home-made pizza." I say to Ralph. I see both Ralph's and Donnie's eyes widen.

"You allowed Mikey to help you? He might have cooked it wrong!"Donnie says, a slight fear in his eyes.

"Relax guys. The pizza has been cooked properly and isn't poisoned. Leo has helped Mikey and myself make the pizza." I reassure them. I see everyone except Leo, myself and Mikey let out a breathe of relief. I roll my eyes and Mikey pouts.

"Well I know who my favourite person is now."Mikey says proudly, walking over to me and swinging his arm around me.

"Mikey, get back to work on that third pizza. It's our last one for tonight." I say to him and he rushes back to work.

"Go and have a slice guys." I say to everyone who isn't helping make the pizza. I see April go and slice the pizza, grabbing a piece of pizza for herself. I smile as she takes a bite out of it.

"So what do you think? Is it good?" I ask her as her eyes widen at the taste of the pizza. She chews for a second and then swallows the bite. Everyone waits for her answer.


	4. Chapter 4

**TMNT Love Story**

**Chapter 4- **Pizza, Training, and smoke bombs

* I skip throughout different episodes in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle show *

"It's delicious. Is this pepperoni and cheese?"April questions and I nod my head.

"Yeah, it is." I say, smiling and then place the third pizza into the oven after I sprinkle cheese on it. I go over to the table and grab myself a small slice and see the others grabbing pieces for themselves.

"Man, this is fantastic, Angel."Mikey says, smirking at me and we high five with Leo, laughing.

"Yeah, surprisingly it is pretty good." Donnie says and I smile at him.

"So what is on the agenda today?" I question the group, curious to know what the guys are doing and everyone else as well.

"Well lately there has been some activity with the Shredder that we might look into later on." Leo says, moving to stand close by to me. My body automatically tenses up, as I start sensing that Leo still wants me to answer the question from before.

"I'll likely going up to my new place. I could grab you some of my old clothes for you to try on if you want?"April says to me and I smile, nodding my head yes.

"Sure, that would be great." I say back to her.

"So what about you, Casey?"Ralph asks, smirking at him.

"I've got things to do as well."Casey retorts back.

"What about you, Master Splinter?" I ask him and he looks at me, giving me a knowing smile. The guys all share a look, knowing something that I don't.

"Well, I was hoping to work on your training. I want to see what else you are good at and how much you know about Ninjitsu." Master Splinter says and I groan. The guys all burst into laughter.

"You didn't answer my question from before, Angel." Leo whispers to me and I smirk at him.

"You won't get an answer from me, Leonardo. I don't trust that easily." I whisper back, my smirk still present on my face. I move closer to Master Splinter.

"I would love to work on my training a bit more as well." I say to him and bow out of respect.

"I would love to see this session." Ralph says, smirking and I roll my eyes.

We all head to the training room and I move to the centre of the room, getting into my normal fighting stance. The others all gather around the room in various places as Master Splinter walks and stand in the centre with me, across from me. Mikey leaves the training room to take out the third pizza. He returns moments later with a slice of pizza in his three fingered green hand. Master Splinter and I bow to each other.

"Now, what do you want to see?" I question him.

"Well, I want to see how far along you are in your Ninjitsu practises."Master Splinter says and I nod my head. I get myself into a ready position, squaring my body towards Master Splinter.

"Also, Donatello I'll show you how to make a smoke bomb later." I comment to Donatello.

"Awesome. Alright."Donatello says to me, excitedly.

Master Splinter makes the first attack on me and I instantly block. Before he has time to make a second attack on me, I crouch down and swing out one of my legs, hitting both of his from underneath him. He lands on his back and before he has the seconds to get up and attack, I should roll forward onto him and pin him down. I make sure that he can't get up at all. He nods his head in a bow and I bow back, then I stand up and get off of him.

I turn my back towards him and prepare for him to attack him, like I know he will. After all, one of the first lessons that I have learnt is that you never turn your back on your enemy. Master Splinter sends a punch towards me and I reach out just in time to grab his arm. I use his arm and flip him over my shoulder and onto his back, placing my foot on his throat. I look down at him and he nods his head. I remove my foot from his throat and bow in respect as he gets up. He bows back and we stand straight up after bowing.

Around the room, all you can hear is silence except the breathing of those around Master Splinter and myself.

"Well done. I see that you are very skilled. I think the lesson is done."Master Splinter says, and I smile at him. He turns and walks towards the kitchen and out of the room used for training, waving his paw dismissively towards everyone; indicating that we may do as we please.

"That was awesome, dude!" Mikey exclaims, grinning at me.

"Yeah, it was pretty amazing."Donatello says, and the others agree.

"Thanks."I say, blushing a tiny bit.

"Well, I'm going to get those clothes for you to try on."April says and I nod my head. She starts to leave slowly.

"I'll go with. Someone needs to protect you."Casey says, catching up to April and April rolls her eyes. Soon they are gone from my eyesight. I smirk to myself.

"What are you smirking at?"Donatello questions me, and I glance over at him.

"Casey and April are crushing on each other. Anybody could figure that out."I say to him and he gives a laugh. Although I swear I see a pained look cross his face. I go to ask about it but decide against it. If I asked him about it then he would ask how I saw and how I knew. I don't want to talk about my past. There is likely a love triangle going on between Casey, April and Don. Raph comes and sits beside us.

"You know I would love to train some time with you."Raph says and I can tell it's difficult for him to admit something like that. I notice Donatello's eyes widen in surprise after his older brother says that to me. I nod my head at Raph.

"Yeah, may be some time we could train together."I say, smiling back at him.

"Why not now? You don't look too busy."Raph asks me, giving me a questioning look. I look between all of the turtles.

"Well, I want to play this new video game that I got with her. You do like video games, right?"Mikey says to me and I feel myself panic slightly as I think about choosing between the brothers.

"Actually, I thought Angel and I were going to meditate together. Weren't we?"Leo asks as well. I hold back the urge to narrow my eyes at Leo. The only reason why he would consider hanging out with me is to get close enough to figure out the answer to his question from earlier and I'm not letting that happen.

"Actually, you guys, Angel promised me that she would show me how to make a smoke bomb more powerful."Donatello proudly says to his older and younger brothers, as they all fight over me. I let out a thankful breath of relief.

"No, she didn't."Raph says, getting temperamental.

"Yes, she did. She said so before her and Master Splinter started their training match."Donnie says, reminding calm as his brothers' eyes all narrow in trying to remember.

"That is true. I did tell him that I would."I say back to them. Leo's, Raph's, and Mikey's eyes widen in recognition when they remember that I did say it.

"Oh yeah. I remember now. Sorry."Raph says and then stomps off to the room used for training. Leo huffs and then plops down on the couch in the living room, turning on the TV to Space Heroes. Mikey, after hearing the TV turn on, races after Leo and starts fighting over the TV remote with him. I roll my eyes at their childish behaviour.

"So, shall we?"Donnie questions me, turning towards me and giving me a smile.

"Lead the way."I comment back to him, smiling right back.

Don leads the way, heading towards his lab and I follow him into it. My eyes widen in astonishment as I look around his lab-type lair. Mechanical machinery and technology, such as computer hardware and engineering type stuff, are scattered around the room on various tables. There is even a medical table set up, which I remember waking up on when I first down here after healing Raph. I smile as I look around the room, walking to various tables and looking at everything; lost in the world of science that I have always had a burning passion for.

"Angel...Angel?"Donatello calls out to me, and I turn and look at him.

"Huh?" I ask him, sort of dazed from being sucked into my own little world of science.

"I've been calling your name for the last five minutes. What's wrong?"Don questions me.

"Nothing, I just got lost in the world of science. It's been a secret passion of mine for years."I explain to him. I then walk over to where he is sitting on a chair in front of a desk. He appears to have what looks to be a smoke bomb in front of him.

"I completely understand. I'm the genius of the group, as you can likely tell from my humble lab."Donnie says, waving his hands to show off his lab to prove his point further. I smile and laugh as he does, and he grins back at me in response.

"Yeah, I can tell. I mean not to sound mean or anything, but between us, the others don't seem to compete with your brains and don't look to be as much of a genius as you. You are definitely the brains of the bunch."I say to him with a short laugh.

He laughs with me and then turns forward towards the desk and starts tinkering away with the smoke bomb. Before I have time to stop him from making a possible mistake, the smoke bomb goes off and instead of white smoke exploding everywhere, black smoke comes out instead. I stare at Donatello and see his face go from super focused to very confused and then finally to a smile as he starts laughing at his mistake. I burst out laughing along with him. We both smile at each other.

"I was about to warn you about the scientific error that you made but before I could, the bomb went off." I say to him, grinning at him and he rolls his eyes at me.

"Oh sure. I bet you would have loved to tell me that it was going to happen."Don says, sarcastically and this time I roll my eyes, laughing. Before I can make a decent comeback at him, a knock on the wall is heard. I look over and see April standing in the door way with a plastic bag of clothes in her hands. I smile at her and she smiles back.

"Hey. Umm.. I have some old clothes of mine for you to try on. They might fit you."She says to me and I smile at her. I walk over to her and she hands me the plastic bag of her old clothes. I hold the bag by its handle.

"Thanks. Do you know where I could change and try the clothes on?"I ask her as I step out of Don's lab and look around.

I see Master Splinter on the couch in the living room and spot Raph and Casey wrestling with each other. I notice the light on in Mikey's room so he is likely reading his comic books and I know that Leo is likely meditating. I walk over to Master Splinter.

"Master Splinter, do you know where I could change in private?"I ask him, nervously. He looks up from watching the soap opera on the television.

"You may use my bedroom or one of my sons' bedrooms."Master Splinter says to me and I bow in thanks.

"Thank you." I say to him and then head to his room. I glance around me and see that Donnie is still in his lab, working away and that April is sitting with Master Splinter on the couch.

I open the sliding doors and walk in. I look around the room, and after seeing no one else in the room, I shut the sliding doors. I snoop through the bag of clothes and see a variety of clothes, such as undergarments, pants, shorts, t-shirts and tank tops. I pull out a pair of sweat pants and grab a random spaghetti strap tank top. I try on the sweat pants and see that they fit me perfectly.

After I take off my black long sleeved shirt, I pause and look at the tank top; almost afraid to try it on. After my parents' death, I did escape from the Shredder, but years later he captured me and held me as his prisoner. I had experiments done upon me while he held me hostage against my will. From the experiments done on me, the scientists cut me open and left nasty scars upon my body. They injected needles that had tubes filled with a variety of colours into me.

Now the reason why I wear long sleeved clothes is so that I don't have to look or have others see the scars that I have and be reminded of those memories that have given me nightmares for years. The experiments that were done to me, sometimes weren't only with needles but other tools as well; whether it was metal tools or not. I have never showed my scars to anyone. I'm afraid of someone judging me and calling me hideous or ugly; or any other painful names. The scars make me feel that I am those things and that I deserve to be casted away like a rag doll.

I look at the tank top before me and debate with myself about trying the tank top on, standing in my sports bra with my back towards the sliding doors. I have scars on my back as well and all over my body, from my head to my toes and they look like jagged zigzag lines. I hear a gasp from behind me and my entire body freezes in place. My eyes widen as I realize that someone sees my scars and that I didn't hear the sliding doors open at all. Shit...


	5. Author Note

Author Note:

Dearest fellow readers,

Unfortunately, I am putting this story on hold due to the fact that I am having a hard time coming up with writing inspiration for this story. I am sorry for the inconvenience and suggest that you check out my other works.

Sincerely,

horriblepastbeautifulsoul


	6. Chapter 5-Scars of the past

Ch.5- Scars of the past

My body spins around and faces the intruder; who has seen the outer scars that I wear. I don't even make an attempt to shield my body due to the fact that it would be pointless to try to cover all of my body with only my two hands. The battle wounds that cover my entire body are all cut in either a zig-zag motion; like pieces from a puzzle, or they are stitched up like a patchwork doll. Sometimes my scars remind me of Sally from the Nightmare before Christmas. Once I have fully turned myself around, my wide shocked, dark blue eyes connect with two sympathetic, equally shocked, and worried filled green eyes. Standing before me is someone who I least expected to see... Raphael.

The most hot-tempered turtle out of the four turtle brothers is the one to have found me like this. All of my life, I have kept these scars from being seen and now suddenly one person has seen them all. It seems that my past is unravelling one string at a time the longer that I stay with the turtles and their master. I built up walls around me to protect myself from being hurt and adding to what I hide inside. I made myself a promise that I wouldn't get too close and attached to someone again; not after what happened the first time.

"What happened to you?"Raph questions me, his Brooklyn accent dripping into his shocked and worried filled voice, as his eyes stare at my hideous scars. I take a large breath to calm myself down before turning and grabbing a new long sleeved shirt from the bag that April gave me. I pull it on and make sure that it fit perfectly before I faced Raph again. As I look back at him, I notice that he is blocking my only exit from the room. After a few minutes or more of silence and us staring at each other, I decide to finally speak to him, knowing that I can't find a decent escape out of this room and conversation with Raph.

"You know it's rude to walk in on someone, who is changing, without knocking first."I say back to him, a small edge to my voice.

"I did knock on the door, you must not have heard it." He answers back to him.

"So that gives you the right to walk in anyways? That's impolite."I snap back slightly.

"No, what is impolite is you not answering the question that I asked you."He comments back, his eyes narrowing into a glare as he tries to hold back any anger that he has from me avoiding his question.

"Well, I'm sorry if I'm not an open book for you and your family to read. You can't exactly flip to a page and expect me to tell you everything; that's not how I work. I don't trust easy." I snap at him, snapping at him due to the fact that I hate bringing up the past and the fact that I felt trapped in the room that we are in now.

"So in other words, we would have to pin you down in order for you to talk, or at least open up, is that what you are saying?" Raph questions me back, a tiny bit of anger showing in his voice.

"It certainly wouldn't be the first time that someone has done that to me without my consent." I snap back in the heat of the moment, instantly regretting what I just said after I said it. The words bringing back the horrible memories, but I push them back to where they belong at the back of my mind as I watch Raph's eyes soften slightly in thought as his face shows confusion as he looks confused.

"What do you mean by that?"Raph asks me. My eyes shift away from his as I roll my eyes; acting like I didn't say anything at all.

"Nothing, just leave it alone."I say back to him as I start walking towards him. Raph centres his body more between the door and myself, his amphibian arms crossing over his chest in an unimpressed manner. I stop in front of him, noticing that the sides around Raph to the door are blocked as well. Great...

"Answer me now, Angel. Why won't you trust any of us when you know we aren't your enemy? Why can we, or at least I, know your full story?"Raph questions me and I can hear the genuine concern in his voice. He may be temperamental and seem angry almost all the time, but he isn't completely heartless. The truth is that I don't want to break even more on the inside then I already have.

"I've learnt the hard way that even the nice guys can turn out to be on the bad side. The only person that I can really fully trust is myself and I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't open up to anyone just to have things backfire on me." I explain to him, my breath coming in and out fast as I try to stop myself from breaking down and crying in front of him. Raph's face turns from confusion and anger to one of genuine concern and sympathy. Before I have time to react or comprehend what is happening, Raph wraps his arms around my small body and pulls me into his chest for a hug.

At first I struggle within Raph's arms against the hug but as he holds me, I relax and stop struggling. I feel salt water filled tears start dripping down my face and I realize that I'm crying. I can't help myself and hug Raph back, realizing now that I haven't cried in a long time and that I've been suppressing my emotions for far too long. I realize now that if I open up a tiny bit to someone then I'll maybe be okay or would be at least able to release some of my bottled up emotions. The horrible memories of my past flash across my mind and I squeeze Raph instinctively as more tears fall down my cheeks.

He hugs me back and squeezes back reassuringly. After what feels like hours of debating with myself if I should talk about my past and of Raph holding me in a comforting hug and reassuring me that things will be okay as I cry hard, sobs rocking and shaking my body the entire time, I decide to finally open up to Raph, but only him and not the others yet.

"The reason why I have those scars on my skin is because of the Shredder and the people that work for him. When the Shredder held me as his prisoner, he allowed his scientists to do so many experiments on me. Those scars that you saw are the results from their work done on me. I was their favourite test subject, their most prized possession, and I couldn't even fight back against them because they would pin me down, strap me down, or even beat me until I couldn't even move at all due to all the pain that I was in. They hurt me in many ways and the damage still remains on and in me to this day." I explain to Raph and the entire time, he listens to me silently. After I'm done talking, more tears fall down my face as I start sobbing hard again.

"Shh, everything will be okay."Raph comforts me as I cry and I shake my head from side to side.

"No, it won't. Things will backfire on me. They always do." I say back to him, crying harder.

"Yes, things will be okay. We will get through them together."He says back and for a moment I believe him.

"Please, don't tell the others."I say to him, begging him slightly as my crying slowly calms down and I feel myself becoming exhausted from all my emotions being freed from being caged inside me for a long time.

"I won't, but eventually you'll have to tell them."Raph says to me and I nod my head against his chest.

"I know and I will eventually."I say to him, as I feel my eyes start to close. I feel Raph pick me up in a bride-style position and he opens the sliding door.

"Okay. I'm going to go and lay you down on the couch, alright?"He asks and I nod my head.

I close my eyes completely and feel Raph walk forward towards the living room. I hear the TV on to some kind of soap opera and know that Master Splinter must still have control over the remote.

"Did the clo-what happened? Is she alright?"I hear April question Raph, panic in her voice.

"Dude, what happened?"Mikey asks.

"Yeah Raph, what happened?"Donnie and Leo both ask at the same time and Raph's arms tighten around me as I hear him let out a small growl of anger.

"Everyone calm down. Raphael, my son, please place Miss. Angel next to me on the couch."Master Splinter says and Raph calms down as he obediently follows Master Splinter's orders and places me onto a soft surface, which I assume is the couch. I feel myself slowly start falling asleep.

"Nothing happened. She and I had a long conversation but I told her that I wouldn't say anything that was said to you guys. She will tell you in her own time. Now, leave me alone about it." Raph growls out, aggravated by everyone's questions.

"Yes, now let Miss. Angel sleep for now."Master Splinter says and everyone remains quiet.

I hear feet move around and know that everyone has gone back to whatever they were doing before. As I finally drift off, I hear Splinter humming a Japanese lullaby that sings me to sleep, like a parent does for their child, as his small rat claw-like fingers run through my hair, calming me down enough so that I can fall asleep feeling safe and secure. As well as a feeling that I haven't felt in a long time...love.


	7. Chapter 6

**Ch.6- Questions and similarities of the past**

*** Skip to after season 3 episode 14 (Angel in darkness) ***

The hum of the TV turning on and the volume going from high to low wakes me up from my sleep. Instead of opening my eyes, I keep them closed and just listen to the sounds around me. As I listen to the sounds around me, I notice that my head is resting on something soft and almost fluffy, like a pillow, and I feel a warm blanket covering my body, which makes me not really want to move. The seat on the couch, next to my head, dips down a little bit and I know that someone has decided to sit down on the couch to watch TV. I stay quiet and let my breathing stay slow as if I were still asleep, noticing that the sound of the TV seems to be playing some kind of show that sounded like the show known as Space Hero, but it wasn't even turned on for five minutes when Space Hero switched over to what sounded like Days of Our Lives.

I opened up my eyes a tiny bit, only to be able to see who was awake already, when I noticed that Leonardo was the one to sit down next to my head, but it was Master Splinter who was the one to steal the remote and change the TV show channel, giving his adoptive son a look that seemed to test Leonardo. Leo only gave his master and loving father a sigh of defeat, making Master Splinter raise his eyebrows for a brief second. Master Splinter's padded paws move to be by my feet and he sits down. I quickly close my eyes and decide to listen in on the conversation, pretending to still be asleep. I feel eyes burning a stare into me for a few seconds before they move away from me.

"I'm glad to see you awake nice and early in the morning, Leonardo. Although it seems as though you are awake earlier then normal. Is something troubling you, my son?"Splinter asks Leo, trying to make small chat as well as trying to be a loving father figure. There is a few minutes of silence, as though Leo isn't going to answer, but then he speaks.

"I suppose a lot has been on my mind lately, Master. Yesterday, Mikey and myself met and helped a guy named Nobody get his life back together after someone named Ruffington took it away from him. We saw Ruffington and Hun working together, which means that the Shredder is up to something huge; to be honest, it has me worried. We also ran into and defeated Mr. Touch and Go, while Nobody defeated Ruffington and we never did hear back from Nobody." Leo explains and then remains quiet.

"So that is why you and Michelangelo were extremely tired, I can only assume Raphael and Donatello were playing video games all night." Splinter says with a sigh.

"Although I feel as though there is something else that is troubling you." Splinter continues. No noise is heard, but I can only guess that Leo has nodded his head in an answer. I hear him take a deep breath followed by a worried and troubled filled sigh.

"What is it, Leonard?"Splinter questions him and Leo is quiet for a few minutes as he contemplates what to say and how to word everything in the right way.

"It's just that I don't know what to feel about or towards Angel, especially after what happened with her yesterday. I feel as though I shouldn't fully trust her because we barely know her and she hasn't really revealed anything to us."Leo says, finally after a few minutes and if my eyes were open, they would be wide. I just don't want them to get too attached to me and vice versa. Master Splinter is about to reply to him, but a different voice cuts him off before he can get a single word out.

"You shouldn't be so quick to judge, Leo. Just because she knows about our history doesn't make her a direct threat to us."Raph's voice says, filling the silent filled room. You could almost feel the tension between the two brothers start to form, but it wouldn't turn into a huge fight with Master Splinter in the room.

"Unfortunately, Raph is right Leo. We shouldn't judge her based on her knowledge of us and our little knowledge of her."Donnie's voice is followed after Raph's and you could almost hear a teasing tone to it, as if he was teasing Raph secretly. It seems like almost everyone is waking up now.

"Yeah, I mean the dudette seems pretty great to me."Mikey comments and I can hear the almost laughter in his voice.

"How can you be so certain and not judge her?"Leo questions, his voice making the question seem more like a demand.

"My son, we can be certain and not judge because little by little she has opened up to us. She has told us about her life, even if she hasn't gone into full details, which means that she is trusting us little by little."Master Splinter explains and silence once again fills the room.

"She will tell us in her own time and when she is ready. We may not enjoy the wait, but it's the least we can do after she has helped us countless times and she made us home-made pizza."Mikey comments, which surprises me and possibly the others as well.

"She has gone through a lot based off of what she said to me and I respect her, which is why I'm respecting her privacy in not telling you guys what she said to me."Raph says and the room is quiet as the turtles think about what was said.

Maybe, I should open up and tell them about my past? It's the least I could do for them. Then if I'm not accepted by them, I can leave and go back to protecting them from the side line; making sure not to tell the Shredder nothing about them or my knowledge of them. I slowly stretch out my body and yawn, fluttering my eyelashes as I pretend to have just woken up. I slowly sit up into a sitting position, looking down and noticing that I'm still wearing a sports bra and sweat pants. I quickly grip the blanket around me, making sure that it keeps most of my body covered from them seeing my scars, as my back straightens up into a sitting position.

I open my eyes more and pretend to just notice everyone up, my eyes widening sightly. I notice that both Leonardo and Master Splinter are sitting on the couch that I am on. I notice that Mikey, Raph, and Donatello are in the kitchen, sitting on stools that are facing towards the living room. I give Master Splinter and the turtle brothers a confused look as if to ask what is happening and they realize that I'm awake as their eyes fill with slight surprise. A crash sound is heard by one of the doors leading to the outside world, making me and everyone else jump slightly, as we all snap our heads over the noise; only to realize that it was just Casey running into some bamboo sticks and April looking apologetic.

"Ha ha, opps. Sorry guys." Casey says nervously, as he rubs the back of his neck and April sends him a glare. Everyone else just roll their eyes at his behaviour as if its his normal behaviour for him to being that.

"Casey, April! What are you guys doing here?" Leo asks them, as he looks over at them, getting off the couch and I let out a small breath of relief.

"We just came by to visit with you guys and to see how Angel is." Casey replies back to him and I decide to get up from the couch. I turn towards April and Casey, smiling at them.

"I'm doing well. Thanks for asking." I reply to them and they nod their heads.

I can see them and the others widen their eyes, just noticing what I am wearing and out of instinct I pull the blanket tighter around me, even though I know that most of my scars are on my back and the other ones over my front and arms are really faded.

"That's good to hear. Did all the clothes fit you?" April asks me, filling the awkward silence. My eyes widen slightly and I debate telling her the truth or lying to her.

"Actually, I haven't gone through the entire bag yet, since yesterday I was only able to try on these sweatpants before my little episode happened. I'm so sorry about that by the way." I explain to them, sounding apologetic and slightly panicked near the end of my sentence. I move myself away from my seat on the couch and move to lean against the back of the couch instead, the blanket dragging on the floor. April nods her head in understanding.

"Oh, that's alright. Speaking of that, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly happened? Why did you have a little episode?"April questions me, her voice is soft as if she is coaxing the answer out of me; like what an older sister would do with a younger sister. I shift my weight from one foot to the other foot, nervously. Up until last night with Raphael and even before I met the turtles, Master Splinter, Casey and April, I have always kept my memories and past to myself and haven't really told anyone anything except a few times, which resulted in something bad happening. I take a deep breath in, slowly calming myself down as I feel myself shake slightly.

"You don't have to tell us if you aren't ready to. We can understand that, if you don't want to talk about it." April reassures me, and I smile at her in appreciation.

"No, no. I want to tell you guys the truth. It's the least that I could do for you guys." I say and everyone nods their heads. Everyone sort of crowds around me, waiting for me to tell them all the secrets that I have kept bottled up inside me that will escape finally after all these years. I take another calm breath, turn my head towards Casey, and then open my mouth to speak again.

"Casey, do you happen to know a girl by the name of Angel, by any chance?" I ask him. His eyes widen, but they aren't the only ones that seem to have grown wider.

"Y-Yeah, s-she's a friend that we recently helped out. I had promised her grandma that I would keep an eye on her and keep her out of trouble, but the stupid purple dragons tried to initiate her into their gang." Casey says to me, growling after he had finished speaking. His eyes blazing with hot anger. April and the guys, except Casey, laugh nervously.

"Although, it's a good thing that we didn't let that happen, right Casey?"Raphael comments to him, clapping a hand on one of Casey's broad shoulders, which knocks Casey back into reality, enough to calm him down.

"So how exactly do you know Angel?" One person questions me.

"How exactly does she fit in with your little episode from yesterday?"Another person fires at me and I take another calm breath, trying not to panic.

"Hold on guys. Give her a moment and then let her speak." April commands the guys and they calm down, shutting their mouths and patiently waiting for me to speak again without interruptions.

"Thank-you, April. Anyways, I guess you could say that Angel and I are acquaintances, or rather friends of sorts. We ran into each other a few times on the streets. I tried to warn her about the purple dragon gang, but it seems she that she took it lightly instead of the opposite." I say to them, letting out an exasperated sigh.

"But how do you know about the purple dragons gang?" Casey questions me and I give him and the rest of the group a small, sad smile as my memories of my past threaten to flash across my mind again, like they have in the previous years since each event occurred. I take a deep breath and then answer his question.

"Let's just say that Angel wasn't the only one that the dragons have tried to initiate into their gang. They tried to get me to join as well." I explain more to them and after saying that I feel a small lift of the weight that I've been carrying for a long time. I let out another sigh, debating with myself once more on how much I should say to them.

My past has always been something that I've kept secret and have kept it in the dark for the longest time, away from anyone that I've come to know. Whenever there has been times that it has been brought up, I've always felt the pain and hurt from every memory that I could recall or remember, then I would make up an excuse and change the topic. I don't want others to feel or be able to see the pain I've been through and have had to suffer with, but at the same time, I'm sick of handling everything on my own. What to do, what to do and say indeed...


End file.
